


The Heart of the Manor

by Kedavranox



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Horror, M/M, Mindfuck, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Psychological Horror
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-06-06
Updated: 2013-06-06
Packaged: 2017-12-14 03:47:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/832341
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kedavranox/pseuds/Kedavranox
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In his efforts to remove the taint Voldemort left on the Manor, Draco hires a team of Curse-Breakers. But what will happen when they stumble upon something older and more insidious than simple Dark magic?</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Heart of the Manor

**Disclaimer:** Harry Potter characters are the property of J.K. Rowling and Bloomsbury/Scholastic. No profit is being made, and no copyright infringement is intended.  


**The Heart of the Manor**

 

Alone, in the dark, Draco turns to face him. _It_. The thing hiding in the room --the thing that’s been, taunting them... teasing _him_ for the last five hours. He casts a silent _Lumos_ and squints as his eyes begin to adjust to the new light. It doesn’t move. It gazes at him steadily, still wearing a stolen face. A face meant to put Draco off his game. On edge. It wants Draco to lose whatever game it intends for him to play.

But Draco isn’t interested in playing anymore.

 

_5 hours earlier_

 

‘You mean there’s no way out?’

‘Not that I can tell, no.’

‘Well this is perfect isn’t it? I mean, isn’t this your job, Potter? How can you be so useless?’

‘Shut up, Draco,’ Harry says wearily, sliding down the wall and sitting opposite Blaise. ‘Ron will get us out.’

‘I’m sorry I don’t share your faith in Weasley,’ Draco says, turning to Blaise. ‘And you,’ he says. ‘Why on earth are you so calm about this?’

‘What would you like me to do, Draco?’ Blaise says, deadpanned. ‘You dragged me into this, so technically it’s your fault.’

‘My fault!’

‘It’s no one’s fault,’ Harry chimes in. ‘The room's obviously cursed.’

Draco turns to face him. ‘Yes,’ he says. ‘This is why I hired a Curse-Breaker. They sent me two. Both completely useless, I might add.’

‘Draco,’ Harry says. ‘Shut the fuck up. We’ve been stuck here for almost an hour. I’m tired, and I lost my wand when you were running around like an idiot out there.’

Draco flushes a deep pink. ‘I was knocking you out of the way of a hex, you ungrateful little prick.’

Harry rolls his eyes. ‘I was doing fine on my own. Will you just sit down? Ron’s probably called in backup by now.’

Draco huffs and sits as far away from Harry as he can manage. Harry gives him a look and then shakes his head. ‘Still a spoiled little brat, I see.’

Draco narrows his eyes. ‘Still arrogant and completely ineffective, Potter.’

Harry frowns and looks briefly at Blaise, who’s sitting against the opposite wall with his eyes closed.

‘What the fuck is your problem?’ Harry asks in a half-whisper. ‘And why do you keep calling me Potter? Bit late for that isn’t it?’

Draco glances at Blaise as well, and then he answers in a vicious whisper of his own. ‘Is it, Potter? Tell me... were you ever going to tell me about Weasley?’

Harry looks away quickly. ‘Of course I was,’ he mutters.

‘Oh really? When?’

‘When I got a chance.’

‘Oh, I’d say this morning was a chance, Harry, after you had your cock shoved up my arse. I think there was at least a brief moment to say, _oh guess what, Draco, I’ve finally broken up with my fucking tart of a girlfriend.’_

‘Hey, don’t talk about her like that.’

‘Oh, fuck you. Are you serious, Harry? We’ve been sneaking around for months because you couldn’t end things with Weasley, and then when you do, you still don’t tell me? What are you playing at?’

‘Nothing! I was just―’ Harry gesture vaguely. ‘What are you so upset about anyway? We were just fucking around.’

Draco firmly ignores the ridiculous pang of disappointment in his chest. Harry gives him a wary look, and then sighs, looking resolutely away.

‘You know what, Potter? You’re absolutely right,’ he says. ‘That’s exactly what we were doing.’

The small, cavernous room is suddenly thick with the silence, and Draco closes his eyes and leans his head back against the wall.

‘Glad you’ve both got that sorted,’ Blaise suddenly murmurs from in the corner.

‘I know what you want,’ Draco says, lifting his chin.

It raises one pale eyebrow. ‘Do you now?’ it says softly.

Its borrowed face, Draco knows, belongs to one of his ancestors. It’s familiar enough to him, from one of the many portraits in the Manor. It’s tall, with pale skin, blond hair and eyes that are frosty blue and pale.

It moves swiftly, too swiftly for Draco to track it with his eyes. It circles him, breathing its hot, acrid breath on Draco’s skin. But Draco doesn’t flinch. He knows what’s at stake now.

It stops, and the face, the borrowed Malfoy face, morphs into someone else. Someone with black hair, and bright green eyes and―

‘I know what you want, Draco,’ it says, smiling.

Draco swallows, unable to stomach the look of Harry’s face stretched across this foul creature’s skin. ‘Don’t you dare use his face.’

‘What, don’t you like it?’ it says smiling, licking Harry’s full lips. It runs its fingers across its chest, Harry’s chest, clothed in the same clothes, the same black t-shirt and jeans, Harry was wearing today. Harry, who’s right outside the door, alone in the maze.

‘I had the impression you rather love this face,’ it says. It moves in swiftly, lifts Draco’s chin with Harry’s fingers and tilts Draco’s head up to look it in the eye. Harry’s eyes.

It cocks its head to the side. ‘Funny,’ it says. ‘I didn’t think you Malfoys had it in you.’

It releases Draco’s chin and floats away again, this time morphing into someone much taller, with long blond hair, straight back posture -- his father.

Draco takes the bait. ‘What are you talking about?’

The thing turns to him with his father’s face, his lips perfectly curled, his stature a perfect mimicry. It’s almost like seeing a ghost, and Draco’s heart begins to pound more wildly on his chest.

But then it folds its arms across its chest, in a gesture entirely unlike Lucius, breaking the spell. ‘I didn’t think a Malfoy could love quite like you do,’ it says. ‘You, my young dark wizard, are quite the catch.’

Draco scowls. ‘Just shut up and take what you want from me.’

 

_3 hours earlier_

 

‘Draco,’ Blaise whispers urgently.

 

‘What?’

 

‘Draco, look!’

 

Draco opens his eyes and looks at the wall across the room, where suddenly there’s a large oak door. Blaise stands up swiftly, and so do Draco and Harry.

 

Blaise licks his lips and looks over at Draco. ‘What do you think?’ he asks.

 

Draco glances at Harry. ‘I’ve never seen that happen in the Manor before.’

 

Blaise scoffs. ‘Well, I’m sure you’ve never been trapped in a cavern before either,’ he says. ‘We’d better take it.’

 

Harry walks over to the door and tentatively presses his palm flat against the wood. Draco rushes forward and grabs his hand, pulling it away.

 

‘What on earth are you doing? It could be cursed!’

 

Harry’s green eyes slide to his. ‘I doubt it. Something’s trying to lead us to where it wants us to go.’

‘Something... ’ Blaise repeats warily. He looks at Draco. ‘When we get out of here, I’m going to kill you.’

Draco rolls his eyes.

Blaise moves close and wraps his fingers around the handle. ‘It’s the only option we have, he says. ‘He pushes open the door, which leads to a stone-walled corridor. Blaise pulls out his wand and mutters a _Lumos_ and begins to lead the way. Draco looks at Harry, and Harry gestures for him to go forward. ‘I better take the rear,’ he says.

Draco scowls. ‘I’m not a bloody damsel in distress, Harry.’

Blaise whirls around. ‘Will you just listen to the man, Malfoy?’

‘He doesn’t even have a wand!’ Draco says. ‘If anything, he’s the one who should be in the middle.’

Harry rolls his eyes. ‘Unlike you, Draco, I actually have some training in situations like these. Just go on for God’s sake.’

Draco dithers for a moment, and Harry’s mouth twitches into a small smile. ‘If you’re that worried, darling, you could always give me your wand.’

A sudden surge of irritation floods Draco’s chest. Despite the fact that Harry’s cottoned on to exactly what Draco was about to suggest, he’s hardly going to admit to it now. He pushes past Harry and follows behind Blaise, and when Harry follows, the door resolutely shuts behind them.

‘Well, that’s that.’ Blaise says, and then he turns and continues leading them ahead.

One corridor leads to another, and another, and the more they walk, the more it seems like they’re being led into something old, and Dark and deep. Something that feels like the beating heart of the Manor itself. They turn yet another corner until they come upon a fork, and they all falter.

‘A fucking maze,’ Blaise says. ‘Draco, how could you not know this was here?’

Draco shakes his head, bewildered. ‘I don’t think anyone knew this was here, Blaise. The Manor’s been around for centuries. I’m sure even Father didn’t know all its secrets.’

‘Which way should we go, you think?’ Harry says from beside him.

‘Oh, I don’t know,’ a new voice answers. ‘Perhaps you should let the Malfoy decide.’

There’s a brief kerfuffle in which Harry heroically places himself in front of Draco, in which Draco exasperatedly pushes Harry aside, and in which Blaise shines his wand on the intruder, a short man with white blond hair and slate grey eyes and an uncanny resemblance to Draco himself.

‘Who the fuck are you?’ Blaise asks, voice faint.

The man --only something in Draco knows this isn’t a man at all-- spares Blaise a short glance, and then he looks at Draco.

‘You have something I want,’ he says.

Harry steps forward, and Draco grabs his arm, but Harry slips easily out of his grasp.

‘What do you want with Draco?’ he asks, his lip curled.

The _thing’s_ unnaturalness pours off its skin in waves. It eyes Harry for a moment, and suddenly its skin ripples, its body elongates and it changes shape into someone much taller, with pale skin, spindly thin fingers, red eyes, and a flattened face with only slits where its nostrils should be.

Harry doesn’t even flinch. ‘If you think you can scare me with that face,’ he says, ‘think again.’

Draco can’t share the sentiment. He’s knees are almost buckling, and a quick glance at Blaise reveals that the other man has dropped his wand and is staring at the image of Voldemort in front of him with a horrified expression.

‘You’re a powerful one, aren’t you?’ it says, leering at Harry in a way that makes Draco seethe. ‘But unfortunately, you don’t have what I need,’ it continues. ‘Not yet.’

It sidesteps Harry, heading straight for Draco. Blaise lift his wand _‘Avada―!’_ but he never finishes the curse, because the thing reaches out his hand, touches Blaise arm, and Blaise crumples to the floor in a heap.

‘ _Stupefy_!’ Draco shouts. The curse lands on its skin harmlessly. The thing laughs a soft laugh, and changes shape again into a short boy with mousy brown hair and hazel eyes.

Draco steps back until his back hits the wall, and the thing moves closer. Harry makes to step forward.

‘Come any closer, and I’ll destroy him,’ it says.

Harry freezes, locking eyes with Draco.

‘It’s okay, Harry. Just, don’t do anything stupid.’ Draco murmurs.

The thing regards him carefully. ‘Yes,’ it says. ‘I think you’ll do.’

‘What the fuck are you talking about?’

It lifts its hand and Harry moves as if to step forward, but Draco frantically shakes his head

The thing changes shape again, this time into a tall woman with blonde hair pulled back into an elegant chignon, in a long satin dress, blue eyes, and a perfume that Draco would recognise anywhere.

‘M-mother?’ Draco murmurs, eyes wide.

The thing smiles, caressing Draco’s cheek.

‘It’s not your mother, Draco,’ Harry says firmly.

‘He’s right, Draco, I’m not, but, that doesn’t mean we can’t talk, does it?’ it says in a soft voice, so like the voice that read to him every night when he was a child.

Draco licks his lips. ‘What do you want?’

The thing clutches at its neck in a false-feminine gesture. ‘The ridiculous part is, I can’t tell you. You must figure it out.’

‘He’s not giving you anything,’ Harry says from behind them.

The thing glances back at Harry with a deep scowl marring it’s features. When it looks back at Draco, there’s a small smile on its face again. ‘Oh, yes he will,’ it murmurs. ‘Especially if I show him what I’ll do should he not.’

And then the thing is inside his head, showing him what he’ll do. He sees Harry dead, Weasley and his team, dead. Watches as countless Muggles and witches drop dead as it spreads throughout Wiltshire.

_You can stop all this, Draco. I only want one small, simple thing. A sacrifice of sorts. I’ve been here for centuries. I only ever need to feed every so often. You can’t imagine how happy I was when you woke me up._

_I’ll kill you._

_I will never die, Draco. I can never be defeated. Not even by your lover. Powerful as he is._

It releases his mind, and Draco shudders, sliding slickly down the wall with his eyes shut. When he opens them again, the thing is gone, and Harry is by his side, kneeling in front of him.

‘Draco, talk to me,’ he says.

Draco swallows. ‘I’m fine.’

‘What did it do to you?’

Draco looks over at Blaise, crumpled and lifeless on the floor.

‘I don’t know,’ he answers. ‘I don’t―

 

 

 

The thing moves, floats around him, encircles him in webs of black smoke, but Draco doesn’t move. There’s a distinct echo flooding the room --someone pounding at the door.

 

‘Ah, there is your lover,’ it says, glancing behind Draco. ‘The true hero in this play. Why not let him sacrifice himself instead? I’m beginning to feel an almost fondness for you, I must say.

 

‘If you touch Harry,’ Draco says, ‘I’ll kill you.’

 

The thing makes a deep ripping sound, and with a jolt, Draco realises that the sound is laughter. ‘You are an ant to me, Draco. Less that a smudge beneath my finger. You could not kill me even if you tried.’

 

Draco brandishes his wand and aims it at the thing’s cloak. ‘Fuck you,’ he says. ‘Take what you want from me and be done with it.’

 

There’s a pounding at the door again. _‘Draco, you fucking idiot!! Don’t you dare give in to it! Don’t you dare--’_

 

The things waves its arm, and Harry’s voice is cut off.

 

‘What have you done to him?’ Draco says.

 

‘Nothing,’ it says blithely, studying its nails. ‘Only shut him up for a while.’ It turns its gaze on Draco. ‘Are you sure, boy? What if you don’t have enough to satisfy me?’

 

‘You feed on love, don’t you?’

 

It taps its lips, with its fingers. ‘In simple human terms, yes. I feed on the energy it gives.’ Grey eyes turn sharply to his. ‘Did you know love is the most powerful force on the planet? That ridiculous Dark Wizard, Riddle knew nothing of it, the idiot. I will never be defeated. I know where true power lies.’

 

‘Then I have enough.’

 

It watches him for a moment. ‘Yes,’ it murmurs. ‘You do.’ It moves closer to him, and Draco braces himself. ‘It must be painful,’ it says. ‘Carrying all that love inside you, all for naught.’

 

‘Shut up.’

 

The thing morphs again. This time into a tall, thin male form, with long, jet-black hair and an alarming widow’s peak. It’s dressed in wizard robes, its eyes almost black, with dark brows that arch his in its pale face.

 

‘Like it?’ it asks. ‘I must confess, this is my favourite form. Feels almost like home.’

 

Draco swallows the lump in his throat. ‘If I give it up to you,’ he says. ‘My-- my love for Harry, will you go away again? Do I have your word you’ll not leave this room? That you won’t harm the others?’

 

The thing brushes his hair off his shoulders. ‘I swear to you, as I swore to your ancestors before you, after I feed, I need not leave this room again for centuries.’ It gives Draco a slow, sardonic grin. ‘By that time, it will be some other person’s problem.’

_By that time, I’ll have set this place to flame. Fucker._

 

Draco stows his wand in his sleeve. ‘What do I do?’ he whispers.

 

‘It’s simple. Think of him. That will be enough.’

 

Draco swallows. ‘Will I die?’

 

‘Would you like me to let you live? Even if it means you’ll never know love again?

 

‘Won’t I?’

 

‘Not him. And I suspect that he is the only one you _can_ love.’

 

Draco looks away. It was a fair price to pay. Blaise might very well be beyond help. Harry is out there, alone in the maze. Weasley, somewhere in the Manor. And if Draco doesn’t sacrifice himself, this thing will feed on Harry, Weasley, and everyone with miles of Wiltshire. But, a willing sacrifice is more powerful that something stolen, so Draco has it within his power to end this now.

 

‘If you can manage it,’ he says. ‘I’d prefer not to die today.’

 

It smiles an almost beautiful smile in response.

 

_45 minutes earlier_

 

‘Draco, wait. Just _think_. It’s trying to separate us. We have to stick together.’

‘But, Blaise might be--’

‘I know. I don’t know what’s wrong with him, but if we find a way out of here, maybe we can come back with a team.’

‘We can’t just leave him!’

‘Draco, we have to. We can’t stay here. It could come back! Moving him could be dangerous.’

‘If it comes back, we’ll fight it.’

‘Draco! You saw what it did. When that thing touched him, he just—fell. It didn’t cast a spell. It didn’t use magic at all. Draco, I don’t know what this is. I can’t fight it if I don’t know what it is.’

Draco kneels down in front of Blaise and presses his hand against the other mans cheek. ‘What it said, do you think it’s true? Do you think I could somehow stop it by giving it what it wants?’

‘Don’t listen to it, Draco. It’s playing with your mind. Did you see its face? It keeps changing shape. It’s a lie.’

Draco conjures a blanket and drapes it over Blaise’s shoulders.

‘Look,’ Harry says. ‘Just take my hand. We’ll get through this.’

Draco looks up at him briefly. ‘I don’t need you to protect me, Harry,’ he says, standing.

Harry gives him an exasperated look. ‘Well, maybe I need you,’ he says softly.

Draco sighs and threads his fingers with Harry’s. He takes one last look at Blaise, and then he raises his wand again and they start moving forward through the dark, stone walls of the maze.

The words keep running through his head. _‘You have something I want, Malfoy.....You can end this.’_

It’s within _his_ power to stop this, if only he could figure out what it wanted. His magic? Not likely. The thing seems powerful enough to exist without it. Gold? Draco’s not sure Galleons would be of use to a creature that’s been dwelling in the Manor for centuries.

Centuries it said.

He stops abruptly and turns to face Harry. And when he looks into Harry’s eyes. He knows. He knows what it is the creature wants. ‘It’s this,’ he whispers.

Harry frowns. ‘What?’

‘I know what it wants,’ Draco murmurs. As he does so, a door appears at the very end of the narrow path they were taking, he grabs Harry’s and sprints forward.

He opens the door with a wave of his wand and when they run through it, it leads them to another room, and closes behind them. The room is much like the room there were in before with Blaise when Blaise was still―

It’s empty and cavernous, except this time, there is a door. Another door on the opposite side of the room, and on the other side, Draco knows the thing is waiting for him.

He turns to Harry. ‘I know what it wants,’ he says. ‘And I think it was telling the truth. I’m the only one who can give it to him.’

Harry narrows his eyes. ‘What does it want, Draco?’

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Draco says. ‘I have to do it. You saw what it did to Blaise. The only way we can stop it is if I let it take what it wants. Then, it’ll lie dormant again. The way it was.’

Harry looks past him. ‘I’m going in there with you.’

‘And what will you do in there, Harry? You don’t even have a fucking wand.’

‘I’m not letting you go in there alone. Forget it.’

Draco looks around wildly. He has to think of a way to get Harry to let him leave, but knowing the other man as he does, it won’t be easy. ‘You can’t,’ he lies. ‘Only a Malfoy can enter that room.’

‘I’ll take your hand then,’ he says. ‘You can lead me in.’

‘Harry... ’

‘Draco shut up. I’m not letting you in there alone to do something stupid.’

Draco breathes out a heavy breath and looks into Harry’s eyes. For a minute, he considers it. Considers not going into that room at all and just staying here with Harry to try to figure it out. Maybe they could bargain with the thing and he’ll not have to give up—everything. Or maybe they could just try to find a way out, disappear and leave everyone else in the Manor to die.

He leans forward and presses his lips against Harry’s. Harry grips him immediately, pressing their hips together and grabbing at Draco’s shirt at the base of his spine. Draco drapes his arms around Harry’s neck, and deepens the kiss. Merlin he’s going to miss this. Every moment of it.

He pulls away quickly and shoves Harry hard, turns and runs to the door, pulls it open, and shuts it behind him.

‘Draco, no!’

Draco closes his eyes and rests the back of his head against the door.

 

Once again, Draco turns to face the beast. ‘Am I the only one who can give you what you want?’

The thing smiles slowly. ‘You mean...could Harry save you?’

‘You know exactly what I mean.’

It regards him for a few long seconds. ‘No,’ it says, with something that sounds almost like pity in its voice. ‘He doesn’t love you.’

Draco’s stomach sinks. He takes a deep breath. ‘Take it, then.’

Draco closes his eyes and thinks of Harry. The first time they kissed, the first time they fucked. This morning when they fucked again, the five seconds after when Draco struggled with himself not to say something stupid. The ten million times his heart jumps when he sees Harry, the stolen glances of Harry on the Quidditch pitch when he was seventeen. The time they fucked in the bathroom at a Ministry dinner, with the Weasley girl not 10 metres away from them at the table. The pain he felt when Harry went back to her afterwards. The ache in his chest when he wakes up in the morning and Harry isn’t there.

The thing presses its hand on Draco’s skull and Draco’s eyes fly open. Slowly and not quite painfully, he feels every one of those moments being sucked from him like air from a balloon.

‘He doesn’t love you,’ the thing repeats. ‘Not yet.’

_fin_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks to MariannaMerlo for the beta :) **Originally posted[here.](http://hp-darkarts.livejournal.com/26868.html) Written for Horror Fest, 2013**


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